Silo and the like built of wooden staves



Mar. 27, 1923.

y 1. B. MATTHEWS.

S'LO AND THE LIKE BUILT'OF'WOODEN STAVES.

FILED JULY 25,'1919.

lll'lllllln lvl Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES.

JOHN IB. MATTHEWS, OF PQRTLAND, OREGON.

SILO AND ATHE LIKE BUILT F WOODEN STAVES.

Application filed 'July 25,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. Ma'i'rrrnws, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Portland, county of Multnomah, and.

5 State of Oregon, vhave invented a new Aand useful Improvement in Silos and the like Built of Vooden Staves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to silos,

but in general to any container or housing built of wooden staves, arranged in horizontal tiers, connected along their longitudinal edges by tongue and groove joints, or the like, and having their abutting ends tied together.

The general object of my invention isl to provide an inexpensive, and vat the-same time an efficiently constructed, and` dependable container of the class referred to.

I will describe my invention as applied to silos of the class vreferred to. These silos are generally built of angular cross-section, and it is of courseessentialthat the joints of the staves be firmly tied together in permanent air tight relation. j

The fundamental object of my invention is to obtain a silo or container of the class mentioned in which all rigid binding or nonyielding relationship ofthe parts shall bel avoided, since such cause undue compression, mashing and fractures, resulting in per-manent crevices'thru which air may enterthe silo.

Briefly stated, I attain the objects of my invention by holding the lparts firmly Vtogether at their joints by means permitting the parts harmonious relative motion with each other, thereby eliminating all undue stress due to expansion and contraction, vibration or external pressure due to heav winds; and thus eliminating all danger of fracturing the j oints,.or causingl air crevices, or blowing over of the silo.

More specifically stated, I attain my object in the following` features of my silo.

v l. I build the body of staves provided with interlocking tongues and grooves along their longitudinal edges, or equivalent interlocking means including a groove adapted to serve as a channel for holdingtar or similar substance which the wood will not absorb 'toany great extent, and which tending to remain in semi liquid state, hence adhering v1919. Serial No. 313,369.

to the tongues inserted inthe groovesvand forming therewith air-tight joints.

2; By assuring' the stability of the lsilo .fv and the holding of the tiers of staves firmlyy mounted one upon the' other, by weights hung from IAtheiippermost tier-of staves, and distributed about the sides of thesilo; preferably using weights greater. than the total weight of the material of whichithe silo isbuilt; therebyy permitting the staves harmonious, relative, vertical motion with each other,V andeliminating undue strain and stress due to expansion and contraction of the parts of vibration of the silo bythe i winds, and in so doing eliminating the danger of causingfractured joints, or air crevices, or the blowing overl of the silo.

3. By tying 'the abutting ends of the `staves firmly togethenby clamps which accommodate -any longitudinall expansion and contraction of the staves, b-ut maintaintheir end joints in -air-tight relation atall. times." l. By providing' door frames which will accommodate theA expansion and contraction of the stave ends terminating kat Athe door opening, and vet assure `eiiicient Aclosure of 1 the door opening. f j

`The features above referred to are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which zj Fig. l is a perspective-more or less diagrammatic-of the body of my ,silowwith which my j invention is alone concerned;

therefore ythe roof is omitted;

.Fg- 2"s a vertical -section thru the con, .l

crete base, the ground sill, and the lower j' part of one wall of my silo; j Fig. 3 isa plan, or top-edge view,` of one corner-of a tier of staves of vwhich the walls y of -my silo are built; this-view illustrates how-the abutting ends of thestaves are interlocked with each other, and tied 'to-- gether by clamps adapted to draw the staves together end-on and atv the same vtime exerting an inwardpressure upon the staves and walls ofthe silo; l, -g

Fig, 4 lis a front y[elevation ofthe saine parts and features illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental perspectivesection of a similar corner illustrating other'means for interlocking the abutting ends ofthe staves together; j n j.

kFig. 6 ,illustrates details of construction whereby the abutting stave ends are adapted for interlocking with each other;

Fig. 7 shows a fragment of the silo wall provided with a door ope-ning, and illustrates the preferred details of construction of the door-frame, and of the door or closure for the latter;

Fig. 8 is a. section on the broken line 8*-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a of Fig. 7.

Figs. 10 and ll are perspective fragments illustratingl details of door-frame; y

Fig. 12 is a detail of the means provided for securing and guiding the cables suspending the weights, whose function is to hold the tiers of staves firmly mounted on each section on the broken line 9--9 other, and on the base, illustrated in Fig. l; and

Fig. 13 is a detail of acorrugated fastener which is set transversely in the groove of the staves, so as to block the open ends thereof and retain tar, or other filling in the base being connected by tongues (l.

the wood to any great extent, and adhering (ill to the tongues, thereby forming an airtight elastic joint; the open ends of the grooves being blocked by little plates commercially known as corrugated fasteners (see Fig. 13) set transversely in the grooves, as illustrated in Figs. 10 at 25.

In order i'irmly to hold the'abutting ends of the staves in interlocked relation, l prefer'to employ the means disclosed in Figs. 3,' 4, 5, and 6. I

1n Figs. 9i, 4t, 6. the stave-end 71, is shown Vas made square, thus locating the end face i, in a plane forming an acute angle with a plane radial to the longitudinal axis of the silo. The stave-end j is formed with a rectangular' recess 7'2 adapted for having the square stave-end h seated therein; and one wall of said recess is made with a projecting lip at the interior, as shown at j in Figs. 9i and 6, constituting a shoulder against which bears the inner face of the staveend 7i., and serving to hold the latter against inward movement.

By interlocking the abutting stave-ends in the manner shown in Fig. 3, neither staveend can move away, inward or outward, from the related abutting stave-end so long construction of the as the staves are firmly drawn together endon, and thus maintaining an air tight joint.

In order to obtain such end-on compression, l tie the abutting ends of the staves togetlier by oiainps constructed-as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

These clamps consist of a short part In, and along part Z, each part being made of heavy iwire. ll`he short part 7c is formed so as to provide a perpendicular eye m, and two'legs','the Yextremities n of which are bent at an acute angle (see Fig. 3) to con# stitute claws seated in holes therefor provided in the staveends. Thelarger clamp partZ is formed to provide a perpendicular eye o, the portions j) adjacent such eye are bent at an obtuse angle as shown in Fig. 3, and the extremities g of the legs are bent at an acute angle constituting claws similar to the extremities n of the clamp part 7c, and being seated lin holestherefor provided in the stave-end. llates i are placed on said legs adjacent the eye m, 0, and a bolt and nut s is inserted thru the latter. lHence by drawing up the nut of the bolt 3,'tlie abutting stave ends are drawn firmly together'7 and at the same time the bent portion or shoulder p, of the clamp-part t exerts an inward pressure upon the abutting stave ends, and thus upon the silo wall, thereby resisting and neutralizing the voutward pressure of the contests of the silo and preventing the jointed stave-ends from warping.

The claws of thc clamps are located only a short distance from the ends of the staves, and therefore the elasticity inherent in the material of which the clamps are inade is l suiiicient to accommodate7 and take up the slight longitudinal expansion and contraction of the staves.

1n Fig. 5 l have shown another means for p interlocking the abutting stave-ends. As shown in the latter gure the staves c are provided along their abutting vertical edges with grooves 2G in which is seated a rod or key z5. These abutting staves ends are tied and drawn together by clamps similar in construction and operation to those shown in Figs. 3 and Ll.

rlhe doors of my silo l preferably construct as follows The door opening is made rectangular as usual. rit the sides of the door opening vertical fi'au'ieineinbers 3 are pivota'lly fastened at their middle, to the ends of the staves c2. located in the vertical middle oi" the door opening (see Figs. 7, 8, 9, and ll), and horizontal door-frame members 7, Sfare fastened to the staves ,e3 and c4 located at the upper and lower ends of the door opening.

The ends of said upper and lower doorframe members 7, 8, have fastened on them,V

plates 9. by bolts 9a; and the extremities of said plates are bent to provide perpendicular clamping-ends 10 having engagement with the related ends `of the horizontal door-frame members.

The ends of the vertical door frame niembers are fastened to the stavesterminating at the door opening by clamps 5. rvThese clampsare similar in construction to the short clamp-part lo of the clamps illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, having an eye.` thruv whichv is inserted a boltv, threaded into tlie vertical frame-member 3 as shown iny Figs. 7 and ll. Y i

My object in the described door-'frame construction is to permit the staves of the construction similar tothe clamp-part 7c of the clamps'shownl in Figs. 3 and 4, and drawn together by bolts and nuts 14 (see In order to firmly and tightly vsea-t the vertical edges of the staves of the door body,

the latter are beveled as shown at 15in Fig. 9; and the abutting end faces ofthe staves terminating at the door opening are correspondingly beveled. A I

The door is firmly drawn into place `by means of bolts 16 fastened at one end in the door-body and having its free ends threadedr and projectingA thru an angle-platev 17; and

on the threaded extremities of the-.bolts 16 are screwed latch-bars 1,8.l `See Figs.A 7 and 8.4 f

The tiers of staves of which the body of the silo is constructed are held i'irmly'fmounted one upon the other by the pull ofthe weights 19 suspended by cables 2O vrunning through pulleys2l supported by clamps22; the upper ends of the cables being fastened tothe uppermost tier or crown of the silo body, and the uppercable-ends are crossed to constitute abrace; as shownin Fig. l.

l. believe the best result`is obtained by using weights whose total weight is greater than the total weight of the material of which the silo is built. The excess of weight over the other must be left to selection,ftalr ing into consideration the usual weather conditions of the locality in which the silo is to be erected and thev weights must lbe arranged close to the ground, 'as shown, thus below the centre of gravity 'of the silo body.

The staves l1 of the body ofthe door are preferably also `tied togethervby vertical thru-bolts 11a (see Fig. 9). yThe. upper horizontal door frame member 7 projects'below the sta-ve e3 to which it yis fastened; and the lower horizontal doorframe member projectsabovelthe.stave-'e4L to which is fastened.' g `To prevent rain beating in lov'vermost'stave vof the idooribody'wivh l"a4 projecting ledge or water-table 28'.'VA

i Thedoor constructionshown at o, in Fig'.` l is similar to that ofthe door `construction u, except that the staves 11 of which the body ofthe door is put together' are merely loosely inserted',"and are heldin place' by the pressure of the ensilage-contained inthe'siloy.

The roof ofthe silo is-"not shown' or-.de'- scribed since any convenient type of roof may be used'in connection with the silo; my invention not concerning theroof.VK 'I I claim:

over the'lower' horizontal door frame member, lprovide the,y

'sie

l. A silo builtof woodenl staves arranged horizontally in tiers one above the other, the

longitudinal edges of the staves of adjacent j tiers being int'erloclred by a tongue-groove joint, the tonguesv of the;overlyingstaves bearing'in' the 'grooves ofthe underlying staves, and weights suspended'from the top ofthe containerl and distributed about Ithe sides thereof, thereby `firmlyholdingsaid tongues in said grooves, the weightsuspending means being adapted to permit the staves harmonious, relative, vertical movement, thereby accommodating any sway "of thesilo due towind pressure, or the expansionand contraction duev to heat;

2. AA silo built of woodeiistaves arranged Y horizontally in tiers one above the other,`the longitudinal edgesfof the staves of adjacent tiers being interloclred by a tongue-groove. Joint. the tongues of the overlying stavesvv bearing in the grooves of the' under-lying staves, and'weights suspended from the top of the containerv and distributed about the sides thereof, thereby firmly'v holding ksaid tongues insaid grooves, but permitting the stavesharmonious, relative vertical move# ment, said suspended weights being greater than the totalweightv ofthe material-of', which the container is constructed,I and said.

weights being arranged below Athe centre `of gravityof the-silobody for `the purpose` set y y forth.

3.' 'A silo .built of woodenstaves arranged horizontally 'in tiers one abovethe other, the ,i longitudinal edges of the staves ofg'adjacent tiers being interloc'lred by a tongue-groove sides thereof` thereby firmly holding said-"A tonguesin said grooves, but permitting the staves harmonious, relative,L vertical move ment, the suspending .means of said weightsv consisting of cables fastened"attheirjupper ends lto the top fof the container and thence being lead-cross wise from-the top down thru pulley-elements fastened to the middle por'-y tion ot' the container and spaced apart in horizontal plane, said weights being arranged. close to the ground.

si. A silorbuilt of wooden staves arranged horizontally in tiers one above the other, the longitudinal edges of the `staves ot adjacent tiers being interlocled by a tongue-groove joint, the 'tongues ot the overlying staves bearingrin the grooves ofthe underlying staves, and weights suspended from the top of the container and distributed about the sides:thereo'l, therebyptirinly holding said tongues in said grooves, but permitting' the stavesnharmonious, relative, vertical movenient, said suspended weights being greater than the total weight of the material of which the container is constructed, the suspending meansy ot said weights consisting of cables fastened at their upper ends to the top of the container and thence being lead cross wise from the top down thru pulley-elements fastened to the middle portion ot the container, and spaced apart in horizontal plane, and said weightsbeing arranged closev to the ground.

5. A silo built ofv wooden staves arranged in horizontal tiers, metal clamps tying the staves together, said clamps comprising two parts each constituting legs terminating at one end in a perpendicular eye and the other ends `being bent atan angle which constitute claws and which can be inserted in the staves adjacent their ends, and a screw bolt inserted in said `eyes adapted to draw said clamp parts together.

6. A silo'built ot wooden staves arranged in horizontal tiers, metal clamps tying the staves together', said clamps comprising two parts each constituting legs terminating at one end in a perpendicular eye and the other ends being bent at an angle which constitute claws and which can be inserted in the staves adjacent their ends, a screw bolt inserted in said eyes adapted to draw said clamp parts together, one ot said clamp parts being longer than the other having a bent end overlapping the joint between abutting staves thereby exerting an inward pressure on said joint.

X1-A silo built ot wooden staves arranged in .horizontal tiers, metal clamps tying the staves together, said clamps comprising two parts each constituting legs terminating at one end in a perpendicular eye and the other ends being bent at an angle whichconstitute claws and .vhich can be inserted in the staves adjacent their ends, a screw bolt inserted in said eyes adapted to draw said clamp parts togetherTthe legs ot said clamp parts being spread so as to distribute the pull ot the .clamps over the entire width ofthe stave.

8. A. silo built ot woooden staves arranged in horizontal tiers, metal clamps tying the staves together, said clamps comprising two parts each constituting legs terminating at one end in a perpendicular eye and the other ends being bent at an angle which constitute claws and which can be inserted in the staves adjacent their endsa screw bolt inserted in said eyes adapted to draw said clamp parts together one of said clamp parts being longenthan the otherhaving Aa bent end overlapping the joint between yabutting staves thereby exertingl an inward pressure on said joint, thelegs of vsaid clamp parts being spread so as to distribute the pull of the clamps over the entire width of the stave. j

9. A silo built ot wooden staves arranged in horizontal tiers, oneot the abutting ends of the staves being provided with a recess and the other end. being squareand,adapted for seating` in the abutting recess, one wall ot' the latter havinga projecting lip constituting a shoulder restraining the inward movement ot the stave and seated in said recess, metal clamps tying the staves together, said clamps comprising twoy parts each constituting legs terminating at one end in ,a perpendicular eye andthe other ends being bent at an angle which constitute claws and which can be inserted in the stavesadjacent their ends, a screw bolty inserted in said eyes adapted-todraw said clamp parts together, one ot said clamp parts being longer than the other having a bent end overlapping the joint between abutting staves thereby exerting an inward pressure on saidjoint.

10. A silo built of wooden staves arranged in horizontal tiers, vone of. the abutting ends ot' the staves being provided with a recess and the other end being lsquareand adapted tor seating in the abutting recess, one wall ot the latter having a projecting lip constituting a shoulder restraining the inward movement of the stave end seated in said recess, metal clamps tying the staves together, said clamps comprising twoparts each constituting legs terminating at one end ina perpendicular eye and the other Aends being bent at an angle which constitute claws and which can be inserted in the staves adjacent their ends, a screw bolt inserted in said eyes adapted to draw said clamp parts together, one ot' said clamp parts being longer than the other having a bent end overlapping the joint-1 betweenv abutting staves thereby exerting an inward pressure on said joint, the legs of said clamp parts being spread so asto distribute the pull of the clamps over the entire width of the stave.

l1. Stave clamp consisting 0i two parts made ot' heavy wire, each part .being tormed to provide diverging legs, and the connecting portion of `said legs being formed into a perpendicular eye, the extremities of the legs being bent at an acute angle to provide claws, and screw-bolt inserted thru said eyes of the clamp-parts for drawing the latter together.

l2. Stave clamp consisting of two parts made of heavy7 wire, each part being formed of the clam 5 to provide diverging legs, and the connecting gether. 4 portion of said legs being formed into a perpendicular eye, the extremities of the JOHN B. MATTHEWS,

legs being'bent at an acute angley toprovide claws, perforated plates placed on said eyes,

p-parts for drawingthe latter toi and screw-bolt inserted through saideyes 10 ,Y f 

